Senate Approves Port of Houston Sunset Review

After a raucous debate, the Texas Senate unanimously approved an amendment that would place the Port of Houston under Sunset Review.

The move comes after a series of controversies have rocked Port Authority and led port leaders to ask the Harris County District Attorney’s Office to launch a probe into the activities of Port management.

Review by the Sunset Commission is traditionally reserved for state agencies, however it has been used to review the operations of Capitol Metro, the mass transit authority in Austin. Like the Sunset Review process used for CapMetro, the Sunset Commission would only have the power to review the operations of the Port of Houston Authority — they would not be able to disband or fundamentally transform the agency.

On the Senate floor, Whitmire said that placing the agency under sunset review was a critical first step in providing transparency at a local agency that receives funding from the state.